Waltham Fields Community Farm
CSA NEWSLETTER 2014
Week #2 of 20                                                  Like us on Facebook  Visit our blog 
 
In This Issue
CSA PICKUP DATES AND TIMES
Please Note New Hours This Year!
  
COME ONCE EACH WEEK ON ANY OF THESE PICK UP DAYS
Wednesday, June 11-Oct. 22, 2:00-6:30 PM
Thursday, June 12-Oct. 23, 2:00-6:30 PM
Friday, June 13-Oct. 24, 2:00-6:30 PM
Saturday, June 14-Oct. 25, 9 AM-2 PM
  
  
Any shareholder is welcome to pick up on any of the above days!  You don't have to let us know when you're coming.  Feel free to switch back and forth from week to week if that works best for you, or choose a day and stick to it for most of the season.  We'll be happy to see you whatever day you come to the farm. 

WHAT'S IN THE SHARE - Our Best Guess
This is our best guess at this point.  Actual crops may vary from what's listed here due to a variety of factors.

In the Barn (Picked for You):
Lettuce
Spinach
Scallions
Garlic Scapes
Frisee
Swiss Chard
Radishes
Beets
2014 Weed Crew hard at work but always smiling!
Collards
Napa Cabbage
Green Garlic
Bok Choy
Kale
Rhubarb

Pick Your Own (PYO):  
Perennial Garden
Sugar Snap Peas

 WHAT'S IN THE BARN
 
Stony Brook Whole Hearted Foods "Pepitas"
 

Finger Lakes grown, brined and roasted pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas) are a crispy crunchy snack loaded with nutrients like Vitamin E, zinc, copper, manganese, magnesium, omega 3 and omega 9 oils, lutein and beta carotene. These are the same seeds Stony Brook roasts and presses to create their pumpkin seed oil. Seeds are dry roasted at low temperatures to preserve the delicate omega-3 fats and optimum flavor.

The vast majority of pumpkin seeds are grown in China, Stony Brook is one of the very few US producers using domestically grown seeds.

Eat right out of the bag or sprinkle over your salads, granola, grind to sprinkle over soups, add to pesto or make a mean Mexican mole sauce. 

 

NOTES FROM THE FIELD
 

Each year the life cycle of the farm never ceases to amaze me. It begins each March, while winter is still amongst us and the wind blows through the empty fields and turns our cheeks a rosy red when we walk from the main building to the greenhouse. The greenhouse is where the annual cycle begins. As one enters the greenhouse in March they are greeted with the smell of earth and baby seedlings. This always reminds me that winter will leave us and be replaced with springs rebirth and summer's bounty. But in March, our small team spends many hours in the greenhouse filling trays with soil and seeds. This is repeated until both greenhouses are filled to capacity with what will become our farms summer bounty of amazing produce that will nourish our families minds and bodies.

 

As spring days get longer and warmer the farm activity changes too. We spend more time in the fields turning over the soil and preparing beds. Then we wait hopeful that the last frost is behind us and begin transplanting from the greenhouse to the fields. Our field team painstakingly undertakes this task with diligence and joy at what is to come. After the seedlings have been planted in the field and our world experiences its annual re-birth and spring growth, our field team must also expand. By the time June arrives and our world is in bloom, our farm staff also grows and blooms into a wonderful team. We welcome the addition of our weed crew who work daily from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm keeping those pesky weeds at bay. We also welcome our Field Crew who work daily from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm who work with us harvesting in the morning and in the afternoons perform other farm tasks. This is my favorite time of the year. Our fields are full, are staff is dedicated to keeping them that way throughout the season and distribution has arrived once again. It is time for all of us to enjoy this time in our annual cycle and cherish what we have all helped to create with this beautiful community farm.

 

Naomi, for the Farm Staff 

IMPORTANT SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION

 

What's in the Share  
Each week, we'll send out a CSA newsletter on Tuesday letting you know our best guess for what will be in  share, for both the items we're harvesting for you as well as for the pick-your-own. All shareholders need to check in with us in the Distribution Barn before picking up their share.  Our first share will be smaller than usual this year because of the cold spring.  We'll probably have only a few veggies available, with much less choice than we generally have in the shares. Don't worry -- this is just the beginning, and there are many beautiful crops in the fields.  They just need a few more weeks until they're the perfect size for you to eat.  We'll send out your first official CSA newsletter next Tuesday with a crop list and more information for you, so watch your email inbox!

If it's your first time picking up a CSA share with WFCF, let us know when you check in and we'll help guide you through your first pickup.  Always feel free to ask us any questions, anytime.  We're here to help you!

 

Bring Your Own Bags

Please remember to bring bags to the farm to pick up your CSA share!  We strongly encourage the use of reusable bags for all vegetables on the farm.

 

Additional Products for Sale

We're delighted to now be certified by the Health Department for retail sales in our Distribution Barn.  Each week, in addition to picking up the produce coming to you in your share, you'll have the opportunity to buy a range of additional local farm products (eggs, cheese, meat, honey, etc.), as well as some locally-made treats, and farm merchandise. We're working on getting set up to accept credit cards, but might be cash or check only for the first week or two.  Our Distribution Coordinator, Lauren Trotogott, looks forward to featuring some of these products in her What's In the Barn column in each week's CSAnewsletter.  

  
Pick-Your-Own
All shareholders are welcome to pick-your-own anytime during daylight hours, and you don't have to do your pick-your-own when you pick up the rest of your share.  Our pick-your-own system is changing for this season.  This year, each PYO crop will have a number assigned to it.  We'll have a sheet of paper available each week with a map and a list of crops that are available to harvest on it, along with the amount allowed and harvest tips.    Then just look for the corresponding number in the field to pick your own!  PYO sheets will be distributed to you when you check in and will be available during non-pickup hours at the PYO kiosk on the south side of the Distribution Barn. 

If You Need to Miss a Pick Up
If you can't pick up a share one week, send a friend or neighbor to get your veggies and have them check in under the last name of the primary shareholder for your share.  You don't need to let us know they're coming.  They will just check in under your name at the CSA barn.  If no one picks up your share, it will be donated to one of our hunger relief partner organizations. 

Balances Due
All fees were due by June 1st, including share balances and maintaining current membership with our nonprofit organization. If you're not sure if you still owe money for your CSA share or membership, check your email for a notice from our Bookkeeper and Office Coordinator, Rebekah Lea.  Please get your outstanding balance payments to us in advance of the first pick ups next week.

For Those Splitting a Share
If you are splitting a share, please remember that you need to pick up the whole share at one time each week.  It is NOT acceptable for one partner to come at one time and pick up half of the share and another to get the other half later.  You'll need to coordinate with your share partner to figure out how to divide the share up, alternate weeks, etc. 

Dogs on the Farm 
Dogs are welcome on the farm but are not allowed in the CSA barn or in the vegetable fields per health department regulations.  Dogs must be leashed and owners must clean up after them
  
Share Pick Up Questions
More questions about share pickup?  Check out our CSA FAQs!  You can also contact Lauren Trotogott, our Distribution Coordinator - a new year-round position that should help to make this year's shareholder experience better than ever while also relieving some the pressure on our farmers to do all the growing, harvesting, washing, storing and the marketing too!
Quick Links
Waltham Fields Community Farm Staff

Claire Kozower, Executive Director
Marla Rhodes, Development Coordinator
Amanda Cather, Farm Manager
Zannah Porter, Assistant Farm Manager
Alexandra Lennon-Simon, Education and Outreach Coordinator
Lauren Trotogott, Distribution Coordinator
Rebekah Lea, Bookkeeper/ Office Coordinator

Hector Cruz, Assistant Grower
Anna Kelchlin, Assistant Grower
Johanna Flies, Brett Maley, Naomi Shea, Farm Assistants
Martha Dorsch, Farm Stand Assistant
Laurie Young, Field Crew Leader
Rae Axner, Daniel Clifford, Ruby Geballe, Paul Weiskel, Field Crew
Alice Fristrom, Zack Pockrose, Evan Rees, Laura Stone, Weed Crew
Natashea Winters,  Learning Garden Educator
Kimi Ceridon, 4H Club Leader
Matt Crawford, Outreach Market Manager
Cassandra Baker, Alisa Feinswog, Forest Foundation Summer Interns

http://www.communityfarms.org
240 Beaver Street
Waltham, MA 02452